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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
04-15-2025, 12:10 PM (This post was last modified: 04-15-2025, 12:16 PM by Colt.)
Colt
It's boots and chaps It's cowboy hats It's spurs and latigo
Colt dropped the reins in the grass nearby as she dismounted from the bay gelding. He minded the leather cords, but bent his nose down to graze, working the grass around the bit with practiced care while Colt rummaged among the saddlebags. She put her treasures in the crook of her arm and turned to the shrine, smiling at the gentle chime the afternoon wind roused. She knelt carefully near the water effects built into the shrine, and steadily placed her favorite fruits and flowers of the season around the grassy shelves. Plums, cherries, blackberries, lavender, sunflowers, and poppies all a colorful display of offerings. Colt leaned back, surveying her work with some satisfaction. She wiped the residue from her palms on the leather chaps that guarded her jeans, then clasped them together, head bowing.
"Frey of Nature. I beseech your time and skills." Her family had always been dutiful to Rae and Frey alike, grateful for the bounty they provided in the flourishing fields and pregnant herds season after season. It felt unusual to be asking for something that wasn't directly tied to that cycle of ranching. No, Colt had come here alone, for... fun. The edges of her lips twitched up, the shadow of her idea forming. "I'd like to host something exciting for Caido, a challenge. I feel the winner deserves a prize, a lucky belt buckle to honor their triumph." There had been violet terror for so long, she thought perhaps a fun gathering, more than that, a way to bond over difficulties in the pen and beyond it, would renew everyone's vigor. She was always down for a party too, especially if it was a little bit western.
Colt prays to Nature Frey for a Belt Buckle with +1 luck.
It's the ropes and the reins And the joy and the pain And they call the thing rodeo
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
“Hosting something exciting?” Comes a voice from behind the shrine. It isn’t Frey, nor is it Rae. It’s something else that filters through the shrine, descending amongst the windchimes and trickling water, flicking through the flame that bubbles in the center like a beacon. “And looking for a lucky belt. How droll.” The spirit seems unenthused, though perhaps its because its ghostly form couldn’t even hold a belt. Maybe the spirit is simply jealous?
It appears briefly for a second in Colt’s peripheral vision, shimmering bones of a creature that looks almost humanoid but something’s off. A spirit from long, long ago, a haunting of the occasional shrine in the region where a majority of tombs dot the land.
It's boots and chaps It's cowboy hats It's spurs and latigo
Colt's eyes cracked open as a voice, one she didn't recognize, answered her plea. A bit hesitant, she lifted her head, glancing around but seeing no one, at first. The chimes seem to clack with renewed force against each other, and the flame billows around, something. With the gut-gripping feeling that she had invited something else into the space, much like when playing with a Ouija board, Colt offered a wary smile. "What would be a better prize?" she wondered of it, honestly open to suggestions. Realizing perhaps it needed more context, she offered more information, something that might prove enticing, unaware others might not feel as giddy as she did about the ranching shows. "It'll be for a rodeo. You should come!" Could it come? What was it even?
It manifests like a blur near her and she turns a sharp eye to it, but can't quite get it into focus. It's skeletal, and strange, and she presses her lips together in quiet resilience. It did not seem harmful, so far, but it did not provide the inviting warmth she was otherwise accustomed to at this shrine. Living near so many tombs had transpired a few things that went bump in the night, so Colt was not innately afraid, but she also stayed tense. "Maybe you'd like a performance at the event?" She tried to offer another smile again, but only half of her lips cooperated. "We need more entertainment options." Maybe it could loiter in some hallways and she could turn it into a haunted rodeo once the sun went down.
It's the ropes and the reins And the joy and the pain And they call the thing rodeo
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
“Don’t know.” The spirit starts off, a soft trill of a hum as if they’re thinking, one that cuts off quite sharply with the invitation. A rodeo certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of scene this spirit would find themself, but maybe if it was as exciting as Colt seemed to make it appear to be, perhaps it could make an exception. Not that they figure Colt would ever see them again if they did.
It's the offer of having a performance that has the skeletal spirit straightening in Colt’s peripheral, no longer a languid movement of before, as if surprised by that even more. The windchimes dance a touch more aggressively, ringing with a sharp peeling sound. “And you assume I can just provide entertainment? Just like that?” The spirit says, clearly offended that their appearance would be considered entertainment.
It's boots and chaps It's cowboy hats It's spurs and latigo
The more time she spent with this odd echo of something that once was, the more Colt was becoming unsettled. It seemed deeply bitter and unpleasant, whether that way in life once, or something that began to rot in the space between living and dying, she didn't know. She didn't want it though.
The chimes clanked and it felt to her like a warning bell going off. She pinched her eyes shut against the gust of that aggression, like back hooves passing just a breath away from your face. Nope. No. No thank you. "My mistake," she murmured, dipping her head to it as she slowly rose back to her feet. "I meant no offense, just seemed like you knew what was entertaining. Thought perhaps you did...music or something." She licked her lips, backing up towards her horse. "Anyway, the rodeo will be here next season, so... think about it!" She swung up into the saddle and clucked to the steed, not bothering to look back at the creepy little thing she left at the shrine.
[FIN]
It's the ropes and the reins And the joy and the pain And they call the thing rodeo
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
